Vision
Kent County Council’s vision for transport has been developed through the ten Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) working on the new Community Strategy for Kent, and through the Local Transport Plan's extensive community engagement process. Reducing social exclusion and congestion, protecting the environment and improving public transport are amongst the top three issues in eight out of the ten LSP community strategies. The strong relationship between the community strategies and LTP has ensured that KCC's vision for transport is entirely consistent with the long term aims of Kent's local authorities and their partners. The long term vision (by 2025) for Kent is:-
“To provide good, safe accessibility to jobs and services for all sections of the community in Kent, and to improve the environment and health of the community by reducing congestion and pollution, widening the choice of transport available, and by developing public transport, walking and cycling.”
This Local Transport Plan will build upon the considerable success of the first and contribute to a County where, by 2025:-
- Through reconfigured services and more frequent, reliable public transport, all sections of the community enjoy good access to the County Council’s and other public services and to employment, health care and education opportunities
- Kent’s transportation network is safe and secure, and the number of people killed or seriously injured or experiencing and fearing crime upon it, is substantially less than in the rest of the UK
- Congestion on all of the County’s routes, expressed through shorter and more reliable journey times, has been substantially reduced and air quality improved through a range of active transport management measures, including:-
- Accurate, widely available information for the travelling public; more efficient use of the local highway network through intelligent transport systems; strict controls on the duration and co-ordination of roadworks and better incident management
- Fiscal and physical demand management measures in Kent’s principal towns which have reduced the impact of the peak periods and funded transport improvements
- A partnership of the Highways Agency, County Council and freight industry, operating a fiscal management regime on the strategic routes to ensure that international traffic in the County covers the costs it imposes upon Kent. The income generated has funded transport infrastructure including HGV management measures, transport schemes necessary to serve Kent’s growth areas, and revenue funding for public transport services
- The County Council works in a much closer management partnership with train operators and regulatory bodies to make better use of Kent’s extensive rail network. A substantial proportion of freight travelling through the County is carried by rail
- The County Council’s control over the transport network and influence on behaviour has contributed to better public health
- Economic regeneration and growth has been supported by investment in the transport network which has provided choice and has not resulted in increased congestion
- In summary, Kent will be a better and healthier place to live, work, learn, play and travel
Figure 1 Local bus services in King's Hill
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